I don’t know if you’ve noticed. Maybe it’s because I’m feeling older or I’ve become even more introspective and philosophical in my advancing age. In any event, I’ve been thinking a lot about “what it all means” and whether any of this “really matters” in the grand scheme of things. And the more I think about such life problems, as it were, the more I’ve come to realize how privileged so many of us are that we can even have such conversations in the first place.

You know how I complain about life-work balance? And finding the time to work while simultaneously upholding my duties as a dad? That’s a problem of privilege, in many ways, because our family’s financial situation is such that I don’t need to work as much as I do. It could all blow up tomorrow and we’d be okay, at least for a little while. Not everyone is so lucky. I get that.

When You’re Broke…

Earlier this year, YouTube personality Casey Neistat released a video essay wherein he spoke directly about money problems and their relationship with life problems. In the video, he pointed out:

I think the hardest part of money problems is that when you have money problems, they can drown out these other issues. Like, if you’re feeling down in life, it’s hard to work on your happiness when you literally might not know where you’re gonna sleep.

If you want to skip the burger chat in the beginning, the “life problems” discussion starts around the 1:27 mark. The video was inspired by an article wherein someone making over $1 million a year indicated that he was unhappy and unfulfilled. The Internet subsequently jumped all over him.

Money won’t solve your life problems, true. At the same time, you can’t really have the wherewithal to start tackling those life problems until you have a stable foundation. And to have a stable foundation, you must — at least on some level — have your money problems under control. Lifestyle inflation aside, you can’t tackle these higher level desires until you meet your basic needs, like clothing and housing.

Climbing the Hierarchy of Needs

This relates right back a concept in psychology called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, named after American psychologist Abraham Maslow. In short, picture a pyramid. At the bottom, you have your physiological needs like food and water. Above that are your safety needs, then love and belonging, then esteem, and finally self-actualization at the top. You can’t start to worry about “higher” needs until you’ve suitably satisfied more basic needs.

Life problems, like finding “meaning” and “purpose” in the work that you do, are very much at the higher end of the pyramid. You can’t worry about “doing what you love” when you can’t afford to eat; at that point, you take almost any job that will put food on the table. To this end, life problems are very much problems of privilege, because you are necessarily in a situation where you can consider such higher-level challenges.

Life Problems of the Rich and Famous

This reminds me of something Jim Carrey once said:

I hope everybody could get rich and famous and will have everything they ever dreamed of so they can know that it’s not the answer.

First world problems, problems of privilege, life problems… whatever you want to call them, they’re still problems, most assuredly. Most of us cannot even begin to fathom the kinds of demons that Jim Carrey has faced. Being rich and famous did not solve those problems.

In much the same way, never tell someone it could be worse. They know it could be worse, and that makes the guilt and pain that much more profound. We just have to recognize that when people say “money won’t solve your problems,” such a statement inherently comes from a place of tremendous privilege, whether earned or inherited. More money won’t solve your life problems, but it will solve your money problems. You’ve got to start there.

And if you’re currently tackling those higher level concerns, exercise compassion with those who may be struggling with more immediate, fundamental worries.